Analyze Google Data Catalog Data in R

Access Google Data Catalog data with pure R script and standard SQL on any machine where R and Java can be installed. You can use the CData JDBC Driver for Google Data Catalog and the RJDBC package to work with remote Google Data Catalog data in R. By using the CData Driver, you are leveraging a driver written for industry-proven standards to access your data in the popular, open-source R language. This article shows how to use the driver to execute SQL queries to Google Data Catalog and visualize Google Data Catalog data by calling standard R functions.

Install R

You can match the driver's performance gains from multi-threading and managed code by running the multithreaded Microsoft R Open or by running open R linked with the BLAS/LAPACK libraries. This article uses Microsoft R Open 3.2.3, which is preconfigured to install packages from the Jan. 1, 2016 snapshot of the CRAN repository. This snapshot ensures reproducibility.

Load the RJDBC Package

To use the driver, download the RJDBC package. After installing the RJDBC package, the following line loads the package:

Connect to Google Data Catalog as a JDBC Data Source

You will need the following information to connect to Google Data Catalog as a JDBC data source:

• Driver Class: Set this to cdata.jdbc.googledatacatalog.GoogleDataCatalogDriver
• Classpath: Set this to the location of the driver JAR. By default this is the lib subfolder of the installation folder.

The DBI functions, such as dbConnect and dbSendQuery, provide a unified interface for writing data access code in R. Use the following line to initialize a DBI driver that can make JDBC requests to the CData JDBC Driver for Google Data Catalog:

You can now use DBI functions to connect to Google Data Catalog and execute SQL queries. Initialize the JDBC connection with the dbConnect function.

Google Data Catalog uses the OAuth authentication standard. Authorize access to Google APIs on behalf on individual users or on behalf of users in a domain.

Before connecting, specify the following to identify the organization and project you would like to connect to:

• OrganizationId: The ID associated with the Google Cloud Platform organization resource you would like to connect to. Find this by navigating to the cloud console.

  Click the project selection drop-down, and select your organization from the list. Then, click More -> Settings. The organization ID is displayed on this page.

• ProjectId: The ID associated with the Google Cloud Platform project resource you would like to connect to.

  Find this by navigating to the cloud console dashboard and selecting your project from the Select from drop-down. The project ID will be present in the Project info card.

When you connect, the OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions to the application to completes the OAuth process. For more information, refer to the OAuth section in the Help documentation.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Google Data Catalog JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Below is a sample dbConnect call, including a typical JDBC connection string:

Schema Discovery

The driver models Google Data Catalog APIs as relational tables, views, and stored procedures. Use the following line to retrieve the list of tables:

Execute SQL Queries

You can use the dbGetQuery function to execute any SQL query supported by the Google Data Catalog API:

You can view the results in a data viewer window with the following command:

Plot Google Data Catalog Data

You can now analyze Google Data Catalog data with any of the data visualization packages available in the CRAN repository. You can create simple bar plots with the built-in bar plot function: